Check out this article over at NanotechResearch.com (this domain is mine also.) The first story is about a company called Vast Enterprises taking recycled rubber and plastics and making something useful out of them. You would not immediately think of this kind of composite being used for masonry products but that’s exactly what they are doing.
If you are in the building industry, you hear every day about solar water heaters and green insulation. But it’s really exciting to see other eco-friendly products being used. The biggest hindrance I see to building green right at the moment is cost.
When you couple the cost of these environmentally friendly materials with the bad economy, things don’t look too promising. I would say those two factors alone will delay the green building boom by at least a few years. Let’s be honest about it. It great that so many builders today want to build green. But it’s just not cost efficient to do so. When the different technologies come along, companies start competing for business, and the economy bounces back, then the costs will drop and these new trends will take off.
It’s tough to just survive in the building business right now. If builders can’t make it with traditional materials, they’re certainly not going to spend 20-30% more on their houses to make them green. It must make economic sense. Doing things just to look trendy is what got us into this financial mess in the first place.
Anyway enjoy the article.
